1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telecommunications, and more particularly, to a system and method for providing a disposable telephone number service to telephone service subscribers.
2. Background of the Invention
Privacy is important to most people. Therefore, many individuals try to protect their privacy as much as possible. For example, many people do not want their telephone numbers be known to the public. To that end, they pay their telephone companies to avoid having their telephone numbers published in telephone directories. Unfortunately, having an unpublished telephone number cannot completely prevent unwanted incoming calls once a telephone number is voluntarily disclosed. The following examples illustrate the need for a disposable telephone number service.
First, consider a situation in which a host accommodates an out-of-town guest in her home for several days. While staying with the host, the guest has a need to receive telephone calls. The host agrees that the guest may disclose the host's telephone number to the guest's callers. The problem arises when the host continues to receive calls intended for the guest after the guest has left.
Second, consider a husband who advertises his family telephone number on the newspaper to sell a pick-up truck. The problem arises when he and his wife continue to receive unwanted telephone calls about the pick-up truck after the vehicle is sold. A different problem might exist even if the vehicle has not been sold. For example, the wife might not want to entertain any inquiry about the pick-up truck when the husband is not available.
Third, consider a single woman who has developed a friendship with a man over the Internet in a chat room, decides to have a telephone conversation with the man. The woman gives her telephone number to the man, and he calls her. After the telephone conversation, the woman decides that she does not want to continue the relationship, and asks the man not to call her again. The problem arises when the man continues to call her despite her protests.
In each of the above examples, the problem could be solved by requesting the telephone company to assign a new, perhaps unpublished, telephone number to replace the disclosed telephone number. However, this solution is inconvenient, because the subscriber must then notify his or her friends and relatives about the new telephone number.
Accordingly, there is a need for a disposable telephone number service. The service preferably uses a disposable telephone number that can be used for a definite period of time. A caller dialing the disposable telephone number during the definite period of time is connected to the subscriber of the service. The service can preferably be flexible so that the subscriber can deactivate the service during certain part of the day or certain days of the week.